Corpus Christi Blog

Merry Christmas, everyone! Yes, it is still the Christmas season for one more week. In this season all people are invited to begin to uncover the mystery of who Jesus Christ is in His fullness. Indeed, Jesus Christ is a mystery. A couple of days ago, we celebrated in faith that Jesus, who is the eternal Son of God, the fulfillment of all the prophets in the Old Testament, the Messiah, and the Christ, was sent by God the Father to become a human baby who will eventually save his people. And today the mystery of God’s plan of salvation continues as we highlight the fact that God chose to carry out this plan by means of a family—the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Our Gospel today is so rich in foreshadowing and discovering who Christ fully is. In our Gospel, we flash forward 12 years into Jesus’ life when the good Jewish parents, Joseph and Mary, took their Son Jesus, though He already is the Son of God, to the Temple to present Him to God, His Father. And so, ironically, through this Christmas and the Gospel today, the mystery of who Jesus is becomes a little clearer, and as the mystery of who Jesus is becomes unraveled in our hearts, our identity and our families become who they are meant to be—holy.

This season is full of many traditions. If you watch any Christmas movie, especially the Hallmark movies, they are chalk full of Christmas traditions, and sweet memories. My family certainly has some. If you were to visit my parent’s house you would see my Christmas stocking that my mom made when I was a baby still hung in the same place that it, and each of my families’, has been for over 40 years, and you would find prominently displayed on the tree the torn and crumpled ornaments that my sister and I both claimed we made in grade school. Similarly, for you, each family here probably has your own little traditions, perhaps centered around the Christmas tree. You might bake and decorate Christmas cookies together and enjoy the same types of food every year. Even being here at this Christmas Mass might be a tradition for your family. All of these traditions bring with them many kind of different memories. And all these many Christmas traditions are good because they bring the family together and fill our hearts with warmth and joy. However, the Christmas traditions are only temporary, family will disperse again, at some point the Christmas tree will die, and all the lights and decorations will come down. The cookies will be eaten, and the Christmas festivities will come to an end. But my brothers and sisters, traditions are not solely what Christmas is about. Christmas is about God’s gift to us. God’s gift to us is His son, the true and central purpose of this holiday season. For over 2000 years; since the 3 wise men traveled, a group of shepherds cautiously approached, and the choirs of angels rejoiced, Jesus’s birth has been celebrated. However, the birth of Jesus Christ is not a tradition, it is so much more. The birth of Jesus is not just something that we remember or do every year, like a tradition. Even though the Christmas festivities end, the celebration of Jesus Christ does not come to an end, because He doesn’t have an end. The celebration of our Savior is eternal and we should be celebrating that gift. In fact, as our readings and Scripture confirm, Jesus is the eternal Son of God. Even though creation has had a beginning, and will have an end, as Scripture says, Jesus Christ is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. It is Jesus who, ‘through whom all creation came into being’. Therefore, in Jesus, the Creator has entered into his creation. The eternal has entered into time and space, the divine has become human. What a gift!

I see countless Christmas trees around the world below,
With tiny lights, like heaven’s stars, reflecting on the snow.

The sight is so spectacular; please wipe away that tear,
For I am spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year.

I hear the many Christmas songs that people hold so dear,
But the sounds of music can’t compare
with the Christmas choir up here.

Gaudete in Domino Semper! — Rejoice in the Lord always; Again I say rejoice! The Lord is near! (Entrance Antiphon; cf. Phil 4:4-5)

Today, being the third Sunday of Advent, we celebrate Gaudete or “Rejoice” Sunday. Festive, rose-colored vestments, instead of the violet. The reason we call this Sunday Gaudete Sunday is that the Entrance Antiphon for today’s Mass begins with the Latin: Gaudete in Domino Semper, which means, Rejoice in the Lord always.

The words rejoice and joy appear over a hundred times each throughout the Old and the New Testaments of the Holy Bible. (In the Old Testament they appear in the Psalms, Proverbs, Sirach, Tobit, Isaiah, Zechariah, Joel, and others.) In the New Testament they are used by our Lord several times in His parables and His other teachings, by Saints Peter and Paul, and is part of Mary’s Magnificat.

On this 3rd Sun of Advent the Church calls us to re-focus ourselves in this season, which is why we change the color of the candle that we lit on the Advent wreathe, as well as the color of my vestments. This 3rd Sunday is called Gaudete, means to rejoice. So also, our readings keep to that theme: “Shout for joy”. “Sing joyfully”. “Be glad and exult with all your heart”. “Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again, Rejoice”. Those are the opening lines from our 1st and 2nd readings. So today, I want us to reflect on the difference between true and authentic Christian Joy and the superficial happiness of the world; and then help to explain how to attain and keep that authentic Christian joy. First, you probably know about the superficial happiness that I’m talking about, and the mask that people tend to put on on the outside, but inwardly they are far from happy and content. The worldly happiness tends to be short-lived and is so dependent on other people and circumstances around us. I can see by the nodding of your heads that you know well that kind of superficial worldly happiness. On the other hand, Christian joy is the joy and happiness that is long-lasting, it is deep-seated, and is not so dependent on people and circumstances. It is not a mask that is seen on the outside only, but it is a deep interior joy and peace which consistently and naturally affects what others see on the outside. Do you know and have that kind of joy? If you’re thinking I’m not really sure that I do, then this homily is for you, because I will help to explain how to attain it, so listen up. For the rest of us, we probably want to have that joy always be continually deepening within us, therefore, this homily is really for all of us.

My brothers and sisters, now with the beginning of a new liturgical year, we enter a new cycle of Gospel readings, this year, the year C of the cycle, we hear mostly from Gospel of Luke. Luke, in addition to being a physician, is an historian, and so he is conscious about writing the historical fact of the time and place of the real events. Have you ever wondered why God came into that place at that time? Even though you and I might so often skim over the unfamiliar names and places mentioned in the Gospels, they are important because not only do they give credibility of the historical real events, but they also give meaningful context to the readers who did know of the people and places mentioned. And so, Luke begins this Gospel: “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, … during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas”. Even though you and I have heard of the names of Tiberius Caesar, Pilate, Herod, and so on, in hearing and reading the Gospels, we probably don’t really know who these people were. Each of the names mentioned were people who had made wrong choices and had done evil things. For example, Tiberius was the emperor from year 14AD to 37AD, so 23 years, for the entire adult life and ministry of Jesus. Well, of all the emperors of Rome, it is written that Tiberius was the most depraved and wicked. Even though the Roman empire was peaceful during his reign, Tiberius’ personal life was extremely immoral. Similarly, the Gospels speak of the dishonesty of the governor, Pontius Pilate. There are non-Christians’ accounts that testify that Pilate was known for corruption, acts of insolence, inhumane cruelty and murder of untried, un-condemned people. Sounds pretty bad, right? Well, that is how the politicians behaved at that time, so what about the religious people serving in the Temple? Luke specifies that Annas and Caiaphas were high priests at that time, unfortunately, Annas and Caiaphas were both deposed from their high priesthood for various wicked acts they were engaged in. Therefore, Luke is giving the reader the political and spiritual context of the times, times in which there were evil leaders, corrupt governors, and even scandalous high priests.

As I write this, it’s been 48 hours without pain in my right foot. Well, out of respect for someone with real pain, I’ll call it being discomfort-free. You may recognize me as the person who hobbled around church on a knee crutch for a few months after having blown out my Achilles tendon playing racquetball with my son. Post-surgery and rehab, I’ve had more or less continuous tenderness in my right foot. More on that in a minute…

I consider myself a re-vert, a cradle Catholic, as well as a convert. I know that sounds crazy, but I can explain.

My father was Catholic and my mother a new convert to Catholicism. I was baptized in ‘62 and received all of the sacraments. I grew up under a much misguided understanding of Vatican II. My parents were deeply influenced by the progressive spirit of the Counsel. Consequently, that misguided spirit colored my perception of Catholicism. By high school I was questioning the faith and this questioning was met with no answers or, as I now know, incorrect answers. My questioning continued as I went to college, met my first husband and had my daughter. I expected my marriage to work because I was taught and believed that marriage was forever. Unfortunately, that firm belief alone was not enough to make it work, especially when faith had not informed my selection process of a life-time mate. The relationship proved destructive before the vows were even finished and it lasted two painful years. The failure of my marriage was brutally devastating to my sense of self. I thought that if this was the best influence Catholicism could have in my life, then it wasn’t for me. This experience sealed my belief that the Church was void of the sacred and was a closed community, in which there was no place for someone like me, someone divorced. For me, this was the finish of any Catholic faith.

Today we begin the 4-week season of Advent, which is, of course, preparation for the birth of Christ in a manger at Christmas. So, be honest, when you heard the Gospel today, how many of you thought that we made a mistake and read last week’s readings instead of today's? If you were expecting to begin hearing about Mary and Joseph and the nice peaceful first coming of the baby Jesus, instead of the terrifying signs of the end of time and the 2nd coming of Christ in great power and glory, that is understandable. But we need to reflect on the importance of both of the comings of Christ and ask ourselves: how are we approaching the second person of the Trinity who is both fully human and fully Divine?